The Mother of Monsters

Teyva found herself sitting among a cavalcade of decorations. The table the old man had found was almost wreathed in stitched cloth and banners giving whoever went inside a sense of privacy. With the music starting to pick up around them it was easy enough to feel that there would be no one able to listen in on their conversation without putting forth some effort. The aged orc pulled what looked like a shawl up over his shoulders and settled into one of the seats around the table, gesturing for her to join him on the other side. Nephral hopped off her shoulders and landed on the table with his meal in tow.

“Were you hoping to see Sari tonight?” The old man asked pointedly.

Teyva hesitated in the midst of sitting down and looked up at the old man. Sure, she’d thought about seeing Sari, she was beyond cute, but she barely knew the girl. She wasn’t some tough take-what-she-wants Azar like Azrael. Though she had to admit the idea of just letting go of the shame and self-restriction that life in the world before had put on her, it sounded pretty nice. She felt her face warm a little and she cleared her throat, scratching at her nose.

“She was working the medicine stall, wasn’t she? I’ll go say hello later,” Teyva dodged. She glanced down at Nephral and found the Sphinx blissfully unaware of the conversation, face first in his meal.

“I’m afraid not, she was called away by a settlement out in the wildlands a few hours ago. I couldn’t keep her,” The old man said; “Apparently it was quite urgent and she is the only healer they trust.”

“She’s going through the forest by herself?”

“Hardly!” The old man laughed, “Hakal and Mors volunteered to escort her for me.”

Teyva finished sitting down and took a bite of her food. She chewed to hide her disappointment. She had just been warming to the idea of letting go a little too. At least Sari was safe. She sighed and rested her elbow on the table, looking the grizzled orc in the eyes; “So what do you have to teach me?”

“No small talk with you, is there?” The old man chuckled.

“Hardly, I prefer to get down to business and enjoy good company afterward,” Teyva pointed out.

“A pragmatist then, you might want to stop and take in the sky now and then, though, it would do you some good,” Yol harrumphed and stroked his chin with a bony hand; “Concealing your aspect, yes?”

Teyva nodded, she had been thinking about it ever since Azrael had pointed out that no ordinary person has more than one aspect. When Yol had referred to her as a ‘godling’ and had called her out about her multiple aspects her concerns had been confirmed. There was little doubt in her mind that if someone unfriendly had been in Yols position it would have been a far worse situation altogether. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck; “Yeah, you mentioned it when we first met. Can someone really do that?”

“It is simpler than it sounds, actually, the most important step is knowing that it can be done and internalizing it,” The old man said; “Once you can internalize that belief it becomes an application of mana manipulation. Anyone who knows how to perform magic can do it though most are not taught the technique. If you only have one aspect it really isn’t necessary to learn, you know?”

“Mana manipulation?”

“Alright, cool, I’m in,” Teyva said, confirming the prompt and resting her hands on the table.

“Step one is becoming aware of mana in your environment, and there is only one way to get a taste for mana, give me your hand,” The old man grinned a little bit too wide as he held his gnarled hand out to her. Nephral glanced up from his meal, finally, and narrowed his eyes at the old man’s hand.

“I do not like this, mother.”

Teyva shook her head and patted his with her long fingers. Sighing and knowing where this was going, she took it. Sure enough, a shock went through her body starting at her fingers and rocketing through her body. It felt like an electric charge but different somehow, muted and warm. She knew that feeling, she’d experienced it when she had used her abilities for the first time. It made sense that the sensation was Mana moving through her body. This felt different though, less refined.

Then another sensation came over her. It was like chewing a bag of mints while snorting nasal decongestant at the top of a frozen mountain. The sudden feeling of clarity hit her so hard she nearly slipped out of her chair, much to Nephrals protestations. The feline immediately began to hiss and growl at the elder while Teyva righted herself. She felt another headache coming on while she waved her hand at Nephral to settle him down. To her relief, the Mockeries in her satchel hadn’t reacted to the sudden flush of Mana. Could they see what had happened?

“Like cold air, wasn’t it?” Yol asked.

“Yes, but sweet,” Teyva trailed off when her eyes refocused on the old man and his surroundings. She could barely see it, like a discoloration to the people in their vicinity. She could smell it though, mint on the air, not spearmint or peppermint, something else. Something sat so thickly in the air around herself she could barely breathe. That smell, that thickness, it felt strange to her. Not like it was layered on her skin but more like it was coming out of her skin and hanging in the air.

She hated it.

She felt like she was stinking up the space around her. Like the air was pungent with her scent. She wanted it to stop; to go away. She wanted it to go back to where it came from. Back inside, back where it belonged. She didn’t want some stranger smelling her. She grit her teeth and concentrated.

“Lady Akura, a moment!” Yol warned.

Too late, Teyva felt a sudden rush hit her in the head and burn through her muscles as the mana she had been giving off flooded back into her system. It felt good. Crazy good. Yet as soon as the feeling came it passed, and she found herself on her knees next to the table, her delicious meal on the ground now in more than one way. She wrinkled her nose and coughed. “What the hell happened?” She groaned, rolling back into a sitting position.

“You overdid it, young lady!” The old orc grumbled, marching around the table and prodding her in the shoulder with a long finger; “I never said draw it in! You have no patience!”

“Sorry, it just felt so wrong, like I was in a soup of sugar,” Teyva mumbled, she still felt it, that sick feeling that clung to her skin. She doubted she’d ever be able to get rid of it now that the old man had opened her senses to it.

“At least you didn’t burst something,” He grunted and stepped a few paces away before turning toward her; “Try cutting it off, not pulling it in, can you do that?”

Teyva let out a breath, grimacing at the taste of bile, she was going to need a drink after this. She shuddered and closed her eyes, concentrating on the sensation of that minty mist leaving her body. It felt like it was coming out of her pores. So she closed it off, one at a time until the process began to feel more comfortable. A few times she floundered, the mist coming back with a vengeance so strong it was nauseating. She kept at it, though, refusing to stop until the last of her pores were closed. She wasn’t sure how long it took but after she was done the old man gave her an appraising look.

“You learn quickly, it was ham-fisted and it took you quite some time to do, but good enough. The scent will fade and with it the ability for others to detect your Mana and Aspects,” He cleared his throat; “This is the most basic application of Mana Manipulation. Something you’ll have to practice every day to maintain it.”

And just like that, her first skill! She had seen that skills were unlocked by hitting level five but she had been worried that it would have taken a while to find a trainer. Another set of unfounded worries. She grinned ear to ear at the prompt and dismissed it. She wondered what the maximum mana reduction was for Mana Manipulation. It made sense to train it as much as possible, maybe figure out how to do some grinding.

“Are there any other Mana Manipulation tricks you can teach me?” Teyva asked.

“Excited are we? I’m afraid not right now, no, that little stunt you pulled was dangerous and you need to take it slow,” He raised a finger, “Besides, you still have that book to read. Savor that knowledge instead, yes?”

Teyva shot him a pouty look but relented when he didn’t so much as flinch, “Fine, I can be patient.”

“We shall see about that, little godling!”

“I wish you’d either explain that or stop calling me-”

“Teyva! Hey!” A voice shot through their conversation as one of the curtains was tossed aside. Azrael, flushed in the face, was grinning ear to ear while Elat desperately tried to pull her back and away from the privacy table. “You have got to try this this, this,” she mumbled before holding out a bottle, “This! Uh… Stuff!” She laughed and turned and looked back at her arm, glancing at it and at Elat who was holding on tightly. “You dare restrain a Warden of the Azar?” She hiccuped.

Teyva ran her fingers over her face, hiding her smile. The old man chortled a little beside her, “Perhaps you ought to take some time to enjoy the festivities. We’ve talked enough young lady.”

Azrael was murmuring something in Elat’s ear when Teyva got to her feet. She jabbed Nephral in the side and the cat let out a surprised growl, looking up at his mother. “Nephral, you’re free to have some fun tonight, go play. Just make sure I don’t hear about flying kittens next time we visit, yeah?”

The sphinx sat up straight and regarded his mother with disdain; “Mother, please, I am a gentleman. Besides, the food is far too distracting.”

She sighed at him and looked over to Azrael, adjusting the strap on her bag. She mentally urged her Mockeries to behave in case she got drunk. They offered a confused assent and she stepped around the table toward Azrael’s outstretched hand.

“Come on! It’ll be fun! And there’s a seamstress who’s been asking about you!” Azrael winked drunkenly. She reeked of booze but Teyva couldn’t blame her.

They’d been through a lot.